Infusion management

ABSTRACT

Methods, computer systems and computer readable media for receiving data from infusion pumps in a healthcare setting and displaying the data on a user device are provided. Centralized clinician views are provided to manage individual and multiple patient infusions. Embodiments provide near real-time graphical displays of infusion data to clinicians on separate user devices. In addition, near real-time graphical displays of patient physiologic data is displayed simultaneously to a clinician along with the infusion data.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/622,213, which was filed on Nov. 19, 2009, and will issue as U.S.Pat. No. 8,291,337 on Oct. 16, 2012. This application claims the benefitof priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 12/622,213 and to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/244,717, which was filed on Sep. 22,2009. U.S. application Ser. No. 12/622,213 and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/244,717 are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety. This application is related to commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/622,183, entitled “Pharmacy InfusionManagement”.

BACKGROUND

Infusion pumps infuse fluids, medications and/or nutrients into thecirculatory system of an individual or patient. The infusions may beintravenous, subcutaneous, arterial, epidural and the like. Infusionpumps can administer injections continuously, intermittently, or uponpatient request. Infusion pumps are used by clinicians for patients whenmore accuracy is needed than with manually adjusted gravitationaladministration of fluids into a patient's circulatory system. Infusionspumps can be used for infusion of a variety of fluids and medicationsincluding, but not limited to anesthesia, chemotherapy, IV drugs, bloodtransfusions and the like.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. The present invention is defined by the claims.

One embodiment of the present invention is directed to one or morecomputer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructionsembodied thereon, that, when executed perform a method for associatingan order to a medical device. An identification of a first order forinfusion fluid is received. The first order corresponds to a patient. Anidentification of a first channel of a first infusion pump is received.In response to receiving the identifications of the first order and thefirst channel of the first infusion pump, the first order and the firstchannel of the first infusion pump are associated to one another. Acontinuous data feed from the first infusion pump for the first channelis received.

One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a graphical userinterface (GUI) stored on one or more computer-readable media andexecutable by a computing device. The GUI comprises a first display areaconfigured for displaying infusion data received from a first infusionpump that has been associated with a first order for a patient. The GUIfurther comprises a second display area configured for displaying vitalsign data for the patient received from medical device that has beenassociated with the patient and a third display area configured fordisplaying information for the patient received from the electronicmedical record for the patient. The first, second and third displayareas are displayed simultaneously on a computing device of a clinicianthat is separate from the first infusion pump and the medical device.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a graphical userinterface (GUI) stored on one or more computer-readable media andexecutable by a computing device is provided. The GUI comprises a firstdisplay area configured for displaying infusion data received from afirst infusion pump for a first patient and a second display areaconfigured for displaying infusion data received from a second infusionpump for a second patient. The infusion data for the first and secondinfusion pump comprises at least one of current rate of infusion, volumeremaining to be infused and alerts. The first and second display areasare displayed simultaneously on a computing device of a clinician thatis separate from the first infusion pump and second infusion pumps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the attacheddrawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing environment suitableto implement embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary system architecture suitable to implementembodiments of the present FIGS. 3-6 each include a flow diagram of amethod in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 7-13 are screenshots of a graphical user interfaces in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present invention is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent.Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject mattermight also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps orcombinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, inconjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover,although the terms “step” and/or “block” might be used herein to connotedifferent elements of methods employed, the terms should not beinterpreted as implying any particular order among or between varioussteps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individualsteps is explicitly stated.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed methods, computersystems and computer readable media for receiving data from infusionpumps in a healthcare setting and displaying the data on a user device.Centralized clinician views are provided to manage individual andmultiple patient infusions. Embodiments provide near real-time graphicaldisplays of infusion data to clinicians on separate user devices. Inaddition, near real-time graphical displays of patient physiologic datais displayed simultaneously to a clinician along with the infusion data.This allows for clinician verification of the infusion data received tobe completed with in context of the patient's hemodynamic and vital signdocumentation.

Embodiments of the present invention remove a clinician, such as nurse,from being the integrator of devices and data. Pro-active infusionvolume stats and alerts are provided in near real-time to bothclinicians and pharmacists increasing nursing and pharmacy efficiency.

Having briefly described embodiments of the present invention, anexemplary operating environment suitable for use in implementingembodiments of the present invention is described below. Referring toFIG. 1 an exemplary computing environment (e.g., medical-informationcomputing-system environment) with which embodiments of the presentinvention may be implemented is illustrated and designated generally asreference numeral 20. The computing environment 20 is merely an exampleof one suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention.Neither should the computing environment 20 be interpreted as having anydependency or requirement relating to any single component orcombination of components illustrated therein.

The present invention might be operational with numerous other generalpurpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that might be suitable for use with the presentinvention include personal computers, server computers, hand-held orlaptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environmentsthat include any of the above-mentioned systems or devices, and thelike.

The present invention might be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer. Exemplary program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, and data structures that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Thepresent invention might be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules might be located in association with localand/or remote computer storage media (e.g., memory storage devices).

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the computing environment 20includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a controlserver 22. Exemplary components of the control server 22 include aprocessing unit, internal system memory, and a suitable system bus forcoupling various system components, including database cluster 24, withthe control server 22. The system bus might be any of several types ofbus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, and a local bus, using any of a variety of busarchitectures. Exemplary architectures include Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronic Standards Association (VESA) local bus,and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, also known as Mezzaninebus.

The control server 22 typically includes therein, or has access to, avariety of computer-readable media, for instance, database cluster 24.Computer-readable media can be any available media that might beaccessed by server 22, and includes volatile and nonvolatile media, aswell as, removable and nonremovable media. Computer-readable media mightinclude computer storage media that stores data or communications mediathat transmits data.

Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile media, as wellas, removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information, such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. In thisregard, computer storage media might include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks(DVDs) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage device, or any othermedium or memory device which can be used to store the desiredinformation and which may be accessed by the control server 22.Combinations of any of the above also may be included within the scopeof computer-readable media.

The computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 1,including database cluster 24, provide storage of computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for thecontrol server 22.

The control server 22 might operate in a computer network 26 usinglogical connections to one or more remote computers 28. Remote computers28 might be located at a variety of locations in a medical or researchenvironment, including clinical laboratories (e.g., molecular diagnosticlaboratories), hospitals and other inpatient settings, veterinaryenvironments, ambulatory settings, medical billing and financialoffices, hospital administration settings, home healthcare environments,and clinicians' offices. Clinicians might include a treating physicianor physicians; specialists such as surgeons, radiologists,cardiologists, and oncologists; emergency medical technicians;physicians' assistants; nurse practitioners; nurses; nurses' aides;pharmacists; dieticians; microbiologists; laboratory experts; laboratorytechnologists; genetic counselors; researchers; veterinarians; students;and the like. The remote computers 28 might also be physically locatedin nontraditional medical care environments so that the entirehealthcare community might be capable of integration on the network. Theremote computers 28 might be personal computers, servers, routers,network PCs, peer devices, other common network nodes, or the like andmight include some or all of the elements described above in relation tothe control server 22. The devices can be personal digital assistants orother like devices.

Exemplary computer networks 26 include local area networks (LANs) and/orwide area networks (WANs). Such networking environments are commonplacein offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and theInternet. When utilized in a WAN networking environment, the controlserver 22 might include a modem or other means for establishingcommunications over the WAN, such as the Internet. In a networkedenvironment, program modules or portions thereof might be stored inassociation with the control server 22, the database cluster 24, or anyof the remote computers 28. For example, various application programsmay reside on the memory associated with any one or more of the remotecomputers 28. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in theart that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means ofestablishing a communications link between the computers (e.g., controlserver 22 and remote computers 28) might be utilized.

In operation, a clinician might enter commands and information into thecontrol server 22 or convey the commands and information to the controlserver 22 via one or more of the remote computers 28 through inputdevices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device (commonly referred to asa mouse), a trackball, or a touch pad. Other input devices includemicrophones, satellite dishes, scanners, or the like. Commands andinformation might also be sent directly from a remote healthcare deviceto the control server 22. In addition to a monitor, the control server22 and/or remote computers 28 might include other peripheral outputdevices, such as speakers and a printer.

Although many other internal components of the control server 22 and theremote computers 28 are not shown, those of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that such components and their interconnection are wellknown. Accordingly, additional details concerning the internalconstruction of the control server 22 and the remote computers 28 arenot further disclosed herein.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram depicts an operatingenvironment, identified generally by reference numeral 200, suitable topractice an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 includes variouscomponents that communicate with one another, including medical device210, infusion pump devices 212 and 214, communication devices 226, bus216, infusion manager 224, healthcare information system 228 andpharmacy application 232. In one embodiment of the present invention,data generated by a medical device 210 or an infusion pump device 212,and 214 is routed to and managed by infusion manager 224, as opposed to,each medical device 210 and infusion pump device 212 displayinginformation on the medical device or infusion pump respectively. Forexample, data 218, 220, and 222 is communicated to bus 216, which mightthen forward the data to infusion manager 224 to be further processedand routed. Before describing in more detail how these componentscommunicate, each component will be generally described.

In an embodiment of the present invention, medical device 210 mightinclude cardiac monitors, ventilators, balloon pumps, patient beds,sequential-compression devices, electronic security devices, andvital-sign detecting devices. Medical device 210 may generate variousdata (e.g., measured heart rate) that, as described in more detailbelow, is communicated to other components (e.g., bus 216) of operatingenvironment 200. Moreover, medical device 210 might also receiveinformation from components of operating environment 200.

In another embodiment of the present invention infusion pumps 212 and214 infuse fluids, medications and/or nutrients into the circulatorysystem of an individual or patient. The infusions may be, but are notlimited to, intravenous, subcutaneous, arterial, epidural and the like.Infusion pumps can administer injections continuously, intermittently,or upon patient request. Infusion pumps are used by clinicians forpatients when more accuracy is needed than with manually adjustedgravitational administration of fluids into a patient's circulatorysystem. Infusions pumps can be used for infusion of a variety of fluidsand medications including, but not limited to anesthesia, chemotherapy,IV drugs, blood transfusions and the like. The fluid, medication and/ornutrients are typically contained in an infusion container, such as aninfusion bag. It will be appreciate that any type container may beutilized to hold the infusion fluid, medication and/or nutrients.Infusion pumps 212 and 214 generate various data, including, but notlimited to, remaining volume of infusion (e.g., amount remaining influid container), rate of infusion (e.g., how fast fluid is beinginfused), alerts (e.g., air in line, maintenance of pump needed, highbackpressure, low infusion, occlusion, or pump stopped). This data iscommunicated to other components (e.g., bus 216) of operatingenvironment 200. Moreover, infusion pumps 212 and 214 might also receiveinformation from components of operating environment 200.

Healthcare information system 228 includes an integrated system ofhealthcare-related information that is usable by a healthcare facilityto operate and provide patient care. For example, healthcare informationsystem 228 includes an electronic medical record 229 (also referred toherein as “EMR”) and a healthcare applications component 230. EMR 229includes an electronic version of patient records including informationfor the patient, such as medication and infusion orders, tasks, images,examination reports, testing and lab results, medical history, etc.Healthcare applications component 230 includes information that is inputand provided at a patient's point-of-care (e.g., patient bedside) toassist healthcare professionals to provide appropriate care. Anexemplary applications component 230 includes a patient order entrycomponent for entering electronic healthcare orders for a patient. In anembodiment of the present invention, healthcare information system 228receives information from other components, as will be described in moredetail below. Moreover, healthcare information system 228 might alsoprovide information that is communicated to other components ofoperating environment 200.

Communication devices 226 include devices that are used within ahealthcare facility to receive, display and send information to a user,such as a clinician. Communication devices 226 also facilitate requeststo receive additional information. Exemplary communication devices 226include personal communication devices, a clinician computerworkstation, and an email system. Personal communication devices includedevices that are used by an individual to receive and send information,such as an in-house phone, a pager, and a mobile device. Workstationsinclude a remote computer terminal that is used to present informationto a user, such as a clinician, and receive input. Workstations might beset up at a nurse's station to or at a patient bedside. Accordingly, inan embodiment of the present invention, communication devices 226present to users information that is received from other components ofoperating environment 200. Moreover, communication devices 226 mightalso receive inputs from a clinician that are communicated to othercomponents of operating environment 200. Communication devices 226 alsocommunicate to other components of operating environment 200 requests toreceive additional information. For example, personal communicationdevice 246 might communicate information to infusion manager 224, HIS,228 EMR 229, pharmacy application 232 and medical devices 210, 212 and214.

Pharmacy application 232 is an electronic application for receivingmedication orders, such as infusion orders, to be filled. An exemplarypharmacy system is Cerner Millennium Pharmnet by Cerner Corporation,Kansas City Mo. Typically orders for medications, fluids and nutrientsto be filled by a pharmacist are displayed in the pharmacy or pharmacyIV room. The pharmacist can use this information to drive the pharmacyworkflow and make sure the necessary medication orders are filled. Inanother embodiment, pharmacy application 232 may be an automatedpharmacy dispensing system such as Cerner RXStation by CernerCorporation of Kansas City, Mo. The automated pharmacy system may be anapparatus pre-loaded with medication, fluids and/or nutrients that maybe dispensed to fill patient orders.

As previously indicated, and as depicted in FIG. 2, each of medicaldevices 210, infusion pumps 212 and 214, healthcare information system228, communication devices 226 and pharmacy application 216 may be incommunication with bus 216. Bus 216 generally provides a connectionframework for these components by creating and managing all connections,providing a messaging architecture to facilitate an exchange ofinformation between the various components of FIG. 2, and providinggeneral operational and management capabilities for connected devices.In one embodiment, medical device 210, infusion pumps 212 and 214,communication devices 226, healthcare information system 228 andpharmacy application 232 communicate with bus 216 as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/347,475 (U.S. patent application Ser. No.'475), which is incorporated herein by reference. For example, infusionpumps 212 and 214 might include various different types of infusionpumps that are manufactured by various different vendors. As such,components of FIG. 2 might communicate with bus 216 via a gateway (e.g.,device gateway or internal gateway), an adapter, or by any other meansdescribed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. '475. In a furtherembodiment, bus 216 includes those capabilities described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. '475. As indicated in U.S. patent application Ser.No. '475, once data is received (e.g., data 218, 220, 222, and 227) itcan be sorted and routed to other applications.

In an embodiment of the present invention, such applications areincluded in an infusion manager 224. As such, bus 216 might receiveinformation (e.g., data 218, 220, and 222) and route the data toinfusion manager 224. Moreover, bus 216 might receive information fromcommunication devices 226 and route the information to infusion manager224. In a further embodiment, bus 216 receives information fromhealthcare information system 228 and routes the information to infusionmanager 224. In another embodiment, bus 216 receives information frominfusion manager 224 and routes the information to other components. Forexample, bus 216 routes information from clinician devices 226 tohealthcare information system 228.

In an embodiment of the present invention, infusion manager 224communicates with bus 216 and functions to consolidate and manageinformation received from the various components of operatingenvironment 200. In this embodiment, instead of components communicatingdirectly with one another, information is routed through and processedby infusion manager 224. Infusion manager 224 allows for consolidationand communication of information from various sources, which may noteasily integrated or combinable by direct communication. For example,infusion manager 224 allows for information from infusion pumps 212 and214 to be packaged with information from medical device 210, healthcareinformation system 228 and pharmacy application 232 in order to generateand communicate a more information-rich notification to a notificationrecipient (e.g., personal communication device 246). Moreover, a set ofnormalized information is more easily sorted and reported than a set ofinformation that organized in alternative formats of various informationsources. Alternatively, medical device 210, infusion pumps 212 and 214,pharmacy application 232, clinician user devices 226 and healthcareinformation system 228 may communicate directly with infusion managervia a network environment.

Infusion manager 224 communicates with bus 216 and functions todocument, display and manage infusion information received from infusionpumps 212 and 214. Infusion manager includes order association component234, device information receiving component 236, device status component238, order compatibility component 239, user device communicationcomponent 240, infusion time determining component 242, and pharmacycommunication component 244. While these components are included in theembodiment of FIG. 2, any number of components, either more or less thanthe illustrated components, may be used to accomplish the purposes ofthe present invention. Other components and subcomponents arecontemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.Furthermore, although depicted as residing on one device, such as aserver, it will be appreciated that any number of components and/orsubcomponents may reside on any number of computing devices or servers.

Order association component 234 associates the infusion pump and/or pumpchannel for a patient and an order for a patient in response toreceiving an indication that the infusion pump and patient order are tobe associated. In one embodiment, if the infusion pump is amulti-channel infusion pump, an order for a patient may be associatedwith the pump and the particular channel utilized for administration ofthe ordered medication, fluid and/or nutrient. For example, a firstorder for a first medication is associated with first channel of amulti-channel pump and a second order for a second, and different,medication for the same patient associated with a second channel of amulti-channel pump.

In one embodiment, identifications of the patient, infusion pump andchannel are received. The identifications may be received in a number ofways, including, but not limited to, scanning a barcode associated withthe patient, pump and/or channel, entering a name or identificationassociated with the patient, pump and/or channel or searching anelectronically searchable database for a patient, pump and/or channel.

This indication to associate an infusion pump and/or channel and patientorder may take many forms. An order is an instruction or request for aprocedure, a medication, infusion fluid, nutrients, a laboratory test,an evaluation, a treatment, or a nursing task to be performed for apatient. An explicit association may be available to the user, such asthrough a selectable button on a graphical user interface displayed onthe user device as shown in FIG. 7, described in more detail below. Thepatient order, infusion pump and/or channel may be associated prior to,simultaneously with of after receiving data from an infusion pump and/orchannel. Order association component 234 may suggest orders to associatewith one or more infusion pumps and/or channels. For example, orderassociation component 234 may filter patient orders to display onlyorders to be administered by infusion pump as shown in FIG. 7 which willbe discussed in further detail below.

Device information receiving component 236 acquires or receives datafrom an infusion pump and associated channel that has been associatedwith a patient and/or order for the patient. The type of data that maybe received information regarding volume of fluid infused, volume offluid remaining to be infused, rate of infusion and alerts. Deviceinformation receiving component 236 may also receive data from medicaldevices other than infusion pumps, such as vital sign and blood pressuremonitors. The data is in computerized form and is communicated inelectronic form to the BUS and/or event manager without any userintervention. For example, the device would automatically be sent to theBUS and/or infusion manager without a user, such as a nurse orclinician, having to manually key-in or enter any information into acomputer system.

In one embodiment, the data received from the infusion pumps and medicaldevices can be manipulated (e.g., by a clinician) prior to being storedin the patient's EMR. The data may be stored in an application orservice such that a user can edit the data prior to the data beingtransmitted to the patient's EMR. Device information receiving component236 continually receives data from the associated infusion pumps andmedical devices as long as they are associated to the patient and/orpatient's order. A continuous feed of data may be fed from the infusionpump and/or medical device to bus 216 and then to infusion manager 224.

Device status determination component 238 determines the status of thedevice based on data received from an infusion pump. The status mayinclude whether or not a device is connected to the system or if it haslost connectivity, whether a pump is infusing or has been stopped,volume of fluid remaining to be dispensed, rate of infusion andmaintenance information. In one embodiment, if the infusion manager 224does not receive any data from an infusion pump (e.g., such as aheartbeat signal of the device or any other data) it will be determinedthat the infusion pump has lost connectivity.

In another embodiment, infusion manager 224 may not receive anyinformation about rate or volume remaining but still receives anindication given at a certain interval of time that a particularinfusion pump is connected to bus 216. Based on this data, device statusdetermination component 238 determines that the infusion has beenstopped but the infusion pump is still connected. Device statusdetermination component 238, if needed, also performs any necessaryconversions on the data received from the infusion pump needed todetermine the rate of infusion, volume remaining to be infused based ondata received from an infusion pump or type of alert needed. Inaddition, device status determination component 238 can rate the alertinformation received from the infusion pump and determined by devicestatus determination component 238 by level of severity. The level ofseverity may be represented by an icon displayed for the alert by userdevice communication component 240 discussed in further detail below.

Order compatibility determining component 239 generates an alert thatdata received from an infusion pump and associated channel does notmatch the associated order. For example, if the rate of infusion for theassociated pump and/or channel received from the data from the pump doesnot match the rate of the associated order, order compatibilitydetermination component 239 generates an alert notifying a clinician ofthe discrepancy. In addition, order compatibility determining component239 can access current electronic orders to be administered by infusionpump for the patient and suggest a more recent version of an order orthe closest order that may fit the data being received by the infusionpump as depicted in FIG. 9, which will be discussed in more detailbelow.

User device communication component 240 displays and communicates datato the user devices 226 and can receive user inputs from a user device226. The user devices 226 are separate devices from the medical device210 and infusion pumps 212 and 214. User device communication component240 can display a variety of information received from an infusion pumpin a variety of formats. User device communication component 240displays an identification of a medical device an associated order for apatient. In addition, user device communication component 240 maydisplay available infusion pumps, pump channels and patient orders to beassociated by the order association component 234.

Textual information regarding the rate of infusion of the infusion pump,the volume infused and the volume remaining to be infused may bedisplayed to a clinician. Textual information regarding the status ofthe infusion pump generated by device status determination component 238may be displayed by user device communication component 240. Patientinformation from the patient's EMR includes details of the orderassociated with the infusion pump and/or channel, patient identificationand demographic information. In addition, user device communicationcomponent 240 may provide data received from an infusion pump in aformat such that it may be graphed against time on graphical userinterface for display to a clinician.

Alerts from the data received from the infusion pump may be displayedalong with textual icon and/or color coding indicating the severity ofthe alert. For example, an alert indicating that there is air in theline for the infusion pump would be indicated as high severity, an alertthat an infusion bag had low volume would be indicated as mediumseverity and a maintenance alert to calibrate the infusion pump would beindicated as low severity. Additional alerts, such as an alert generatedby order compatibility determining component 239, alerting a clinicianthat the order associated with the infusion pump does not match the databeing received from the infusion pump may also be displayed. User devicecommunication component 240 may display infusion data for individualpatients as shown in FIG. 8 described in more detail below or formultiple patients simultaneously as shown in FIG. 10 also described inmore detail below.

User device communication component 240 also provides a user, such as aclinician, with the opportunity to review the data acquired from theinfusion pump. The data acquired from the infusion pump and vital signscollected by other medical devices are displayed to the user in a formatthat allows the user to edit the data received from the infusion pump incontext of the patient's vital signs, if desired. Alternatively, theuser may authenticate the data as received from the medical device. Oncethe data received from the infusion pump has been reviewed by aclinician, and once the user has had the opportunity to edit or add anyother information, the user may select a button, such as a sign button,that indicates that the data is ready to be transmitted or published tothe patient's EMR.

Infusion time determining component 242 determines the time remaininguntil an infusion needs to be replaced and/or refilled. A variety ofinformation may be utilized to determine the time remaining infusionfluid to be infused. The information utilized may include patientinformation (patient location, patient identifier), order information(type of infusion, amount, etc.), information from pump (rate, volumeinfused, volume remaining, alerts) and information from pharmacy thatfiled the current infusion (e.g., expiration of current infusion).Oftentimes infusion fluids, medications and nutrients have a setexpiration time. This information can be obtained from the data from thepharmacy that filled the current infusion. For example, a 50 ml ofdopamine may expire in 12 hours.

To calculate the estimated time remaining for until the current infusionfluid runs out, infusion time determining component 242 receives thecurrent rate associated from the infusion pump associated with thepatient order or calculates average rate over a period of time (e.g., 24hours) utilizing the rate data received from the infusion pumpassociated with the patient order. Additionally, infusion timedetermining component 242 receives the remaining volume from theinfusion pump associated with the patient order. The infusion timedetermining component 242 then utilizes the rate and volume remaining todetermine the estimated time remaining of the current infusion. Forexample, with reference to FIG. 13, the estimated time remaining for acontinuous infusion of dopamine that has 5.66 ml remaining to be infusedand a current or average infusion rate of 24.75 ml/hour is calculated asfollows:

5.66 ml/24.75 ml/hour=0.228 hours

0.288 hours×60 minutes=13.72 minutes

As such, the estimated time remaining for the infusion is calculated as<14 minutes. In one embodiment, the infusion time determining component242 compares the estimated time remaining (e.g., <14 minutes) to theexpiration time of the current infusion. In this example, the infusiontime determining component 242 determines that the estimated timeremaining for the infusion will occur before the expiration time of thecurrent infusion and such the estimated time remaining would remain <14minutes. As such, the pharmacy communication component 244, discussed inmore detail below, would notify the pharmacy application 232 that theestimated time remaining of the current infusion is <14 minutes as shownin FIG. 13.

In another embodiment, the infusion time determining component 242determines that the current infusion will expire in <5 minutes. Thus,the current infusion will expire before the estimated time remaining inthe infusion. Thus, pharmacy communication component 244 communicates tothe pharmacy application 232 that the current infusion will expire in <5minutes.

In addition, infusion time determining component 242 determines that therate of infusion for a patient order is increasing or decreasing.Infusion time determining component 242 utilizes rate informationreceived from an infusion pump over a period of time an average. Theinfusion time determining component 242 compares the average rate to thecurrent rate to determine if the rate is increasing, decreasing orstaying the same. An indication of the increase or decrease in rate canbe displayed to a pharmacy application 244 by pharmacy communicationcomponent 232.

Infusion time determining component 242 may also filter infusion datafor multiple patients to prioritize the pharmacy workflow as shown inFIG. 13. A variety of information may be utilized to prioritize theworkflow in the pharmacy. The information utilized may include patientinformation (patient location, patient identifier), order information(type of infusion, amount, etc.), information from pump (rate, volumeinfused, volume remaining, alerts), information from pharmacy that filedthe current infusion (e.g., expiration of current infusion), knownpreparation time to prepare an infusion and inventory information.

The infusion time determining component 242 first looks at the timeremaining for a current infusion for a patient. For example, infusiontime determining component 242 would rank the current infusion for apatient with the least amount of time remaining for the current infusionas the highest priority and a current infusion for the patient with themost amount time remaining the lowest priority. Infusion timedetermining component 242 would then determine if there is inventory onhand for a current patient infusion. If so, the infusion timedetermining component 242 may decrease the priority of replacing thecurrent infusion as an infusion from the current inventory will justneed to be delivered to the patient. Another factor that may be takeninto account is the time to prepare a replacement infusion fluid. Forexample, a first patient has a current infusion that is estimated to runout in 14 minutes and a second patient has a current infusion that isestimated to run out in 25 minutes. However, the replacement infusionfor the first patient will only take two minutes to prepare but thereplacement infusion for the second patient will take 20 minutes toprepare. As such, the infusion time determining component 242 willdetermine to increase the priority of the replacement infusion for thesecond patient and will change the prioritization rankings accordingly.

Pharmacy communication component 244 displays and communicates infusionpump data to pharmacy application 232. Pharmacy communication component244 provides near real-time pharmacy awareness of the infusion status ofmultiple infusion pumps within one or more healthcare facilities.

Pharmacy communication component 244 can display a variety ofinformation received from an infusion pump in a variety of formats to apharmacy, pharmacy user or an automated pharmacy dispensing system suchas Cerner RXStation by Cerner Corporation of Kansas City, Mo. Pharmacycommunication component 244 displays patient information such as patientname or ID number along with the patient's location obtained from thepatient's EMR 229. Pharmacy communication component 244 displays detailsregarding the infusion order for the patient such as ingredient,infusion type, and volume to be infused. In addition, pharmacycommunication component 244 also displays data received from infusionpumps 212 and 214 including rate of infusion, volume infused, remainingvolume to be infused and alerts. Pharmacy communication component 244also displays calculations performed by infusion time determiningcomponent 242 of time left before a current infusion fluid runs out.

Turning now to FIG. 3, an illustrative flow diagram 300 is shown of amethod for associating a patient order and a channel of a multi-channelinfusion pump. Initially, an identification of a first infusion pump isreceived is received at step 310. An identification of an infusion pumpmay be received by scanning a bar code corresponding to the infusionpump, entering an identification of the infusion pump into the computingdevice, or searching for an infusion pump in a database. At step 320, anidentification of a patient is received. The identification of thepatient may be received in accordance with one of the methods describedabove, or any other method that allows for identification. At step 330,an identification of an order associated with a patient is received.Again, a patient order may be identified by any of the methods describedabove. In response to receiving identification of a channel of amulti-channel infusion pump and a patient order, the channel and thepatient order are associated with one another and stored at step 340.

A continuous data feed from the infusion pump is received at 350. Datamay be received continually from a first time to a second time. In oneembodiment, the first time occurred upon initial association of theorder to the channel of the infusion pump, and the second time occurredupon termination of the association of the order and a first channel ofthe infusion pump.

In one embodiment, a second channel of the infusion pump is identifiedand associated with a second order different from the first order forthe patient. Again, this association of the second channel of theinfusion pump and the second order is stored for the patient. As such,each channel of an infusion pump may be associated with a differentorder for the patient.

At step 360, it is determined whether the data received from theinfusion pump for the first channel matches that of the first associatedorder. If the data does not match at step 360, an alert is generated atstep 370. At step 380, the alert is displayed on a clinician device,such as clinical user device 226. If at step 360, it is determined thatthe data received from the infusion pump or the first channel matchesthat of the associated first patient order at step 385, the data fromthe infusion pump is communicated at step 385. The data received fromthe infusion pump is communicated to a user device for display. At step390, an indication from the user verifying the data received from theinfusion pump is received and at step 395, the data is transmitted andstored in the patient's electronic medical record.

Turning now to FIG. 4, an illustrative flow diagram 400 is shown of amethod for displaying infusion pump status, vital signs for a patientand patient information from the patient's electronic medical record, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At step 410,data is received from an infusion pump connected to a patient. At step420, vital sign data from a medical device connected to the same patientis received. At step 430, the status of the infusion pump is determined.For example, device status component 238 may determine whether a deviceis connected, has been stopped, and/or the rate and volume of thecurrent infusion.

At step 440, the patient's electronic medical record is accessed forpatient information. At step 450, the infusion pump status, vital signinformation received and patient information from the EMR are displayedsimultaneously on a graphical user interface such as the graphical userinterface shown in FIG. 8 which will be described in more detail below.

Referring next to FIG. 5, an illustrative flow diagram 500 is shown as amethod for displaying infusion data for a first and second patientsimultaneously. Initially, data from a first infusion pump for a firstpatient is received at step 510. The data may include such informationas rate of infusion, volume infused, and volume remaining. The data mayfurther include alerts regarding the infusion pump data. At step 520,data is received from a second infusion pump for a second patient. Thesecond patient is different from the first patient. The first infusionpump has been previously associated with a first order for the firstpatient as described in FIG. 3. The second infusion pump has beenassociated with an order for the second patient, again, as described inFIG. 3.

At step 530, the patient's electronic medical record for the first andsecond patient is accessed for patient information. At step 540,infusion data for the first and second patient is displayedsimultaneously in a graphical user interface such as that shown in FIG.11 and will be discussed in further detail below.

Referring next to FIG. 6, an illustrative flow diagram 600 is shown of amethod for receiving input of dispensing status from a pharmacyapplication and communicating the dispensing status to a clinician.Initially, at step 610, data is received from an infusion pump that hasbeen associated with a patient order. At step 620, the time remainingfor the current infusion for the patient order is determined. The timeremaining for the current infusion may be determined by the infusiontime determining component 242. As described above, a variety ofinformation may be utilized to determine the time remaining infusionfluid to be infused. The information used may include the rates that therate of infusion, the remaining volume, expiration time of the infusionfluid and the like.

At step 630, the priority of pharmacy refills for current infusion formultiple patients is determined as described above with respect topharmacy time remaining component 242. The priority of refills in thepharmacy can be determined by the time remaining for the currentinfusion, the lead time to prepare a replacement infusion, and thenumber of infusion fluid containers for the particular type of infusionthat have already been completed and are in inventory.

At step 640, the infusion pump data received for multiple patients isdisplayed to a pharmacist. The infusion pump data may be displayed inpriority of the highest priority to be completed to the lowest priorityto be completed. An exemplary graphical user interface of a multiplepatient infusion data view in the pharmacy is shown in FIG. 13.

Turning now to FIG. 7, an illustrative graphical user interface 700 isshown for a patient and plurality of orders and infusion pumps, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Differentchannels of a multi-channel infusion pumps are capable of beingassociated with orders for a patient. An exemplary order 715 may begiven to a patient of 1000 mL of dextrose 5% with 0.3% NaCl. The type oforder may vary depending on the type of infusion pump that is requiredto carry out the order.

A patient identification area 705 identifies the patient, and givesother information regarding the patient, such as patient name, birthdate, gender, age, and the like. An infusion pump channel identificationarea 710 identifies a channel of an infusion pump, and may also provideinformation about the channel and the infusion pump. In this examplethere are two channels 710 and 720 for a single infusion pump. There isone connected channel 710 associated with an order 715 for the patient.There is one channel 720 that has not been associated with an order.There is one medication order 725 that has not been associated with achannel of an infusion pump. Channels 710 and 720 each have a checkboxwhich may be selected to associate or disassociate a channel of aninfusion pump. If an order is not currently associated, it may beselected to be associated with a suggested order. For example, channel 2of device 1 720 may be associated with the propofol 725 medicationorder. The checkbox for channel 2 of device 1 720 and the propofol order725 may be selected and associated by selecting associate button 730.Channel 1 of device 1 710 may be selected to disassociate it from theassociated order 715. This may be done by selecting disassociate button735. If there is an association made between an order and a channel ofan infusion pump, the start and end time will be kept in the system forthe patient, and most or all inaccuracies will disappear.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative graphical user interface 800 showing infusiondata for a selected patient, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. A patient identification area 805 allows for theidentification of a patient including, but not limited to, the patient'sname, date of birth, gender, age, and an identification number or code.Infusion status area 805 indicates the connected infusion pump andchannels. Here, there are five infusion pumps and channels connectedthat have been associated with orders for the patient. Associated ordersinclude dopamine 810, insulin 815, norepinephrine 820, milrinone 825,and propofol 830. Information for each order includes the orderinformation, the current rate of the infusion pump for the order, andany dispensing information. Each order further has an icon indicatingthe volume remaining for the infusion. Graphical user interface 800further includes vital signs areas 835 and 840 for respiratory and bloodpressure, respectively. In addition, infusion graphing area 860 includesinfused volumes over time of milrinone 845, norepinephrine 850, anddopamine 855.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative graphical user interface 900 of a dialogue boxindicating that an order currently associated to a pump channel does notmatch the latest version of the order. This type of box may appear ifthe order compatibility component 239 determines that the orderassociated with a pump channel is not current. The box indicates thatthere has been an order modification 905 for a patient. The box includesan alerting icon 910 stating that the most current version of the orderhas not been associated with the pump channel for the patient. The boxincludes an area of the currently associated version of the order 915and the latest version of the order 920. A user, such as a clinician,may select the latest version button to associate the pump channel withthe latest version of the order for the patient.

FIG. 10 is a graphical user interface 1000 depicting infusioninformation for multiple patients. In the exemplary graphical userinterface multiple patient infusion information is included for Unit No.1 1005. The graphical user interface includes patient identifyinginformation 1010 and associated infusion orders that have beenassociated with infusion pumps and/or channels 1115. The graphical userinterface also includes alerting icons 1120 depicting which patientshave infusion alerts.

Turning to FIG. 11, graphical user interface 1100 depicting multiplepatients for Unit 1 1105 is shown. The multi-unit view shows thatpatient Thomas Walker 1110 has an associated infusion pump or channel1115 that currently is not communicating any data. As such, it isdisplayed that the pump for the particular order has no data to display.

Turning to FIG. 12, an illustrative graphical user interface 1200 of amulti-patient view of infusion data is shown. Again, multiple patientsfor Unit 1 1205 and their infusion data are shown. In addition, alertsand additional information regarding the alerts are depicted. When auser hovers over an order listed for a patient or alert icon, anadditional box appears with more information regarding the order and thealert. For example, box 1210 shows that the pump associated with patientCollette Fryer's potassium chloride order is beeping. The additionalinformation box 1210 also includes the current rates of the infusion,the amount of volume that has been infused, and the dispensing status,along with details of the original order. Textbox 1215 displays detailsfor the dopamine order for patient Jean Washington. It also includes thecurrent rate of infusion received from the infusion pump, along with thevolume that has been infused. The textbox also includes the dispensingstatus from the pharmacy regarding whether a new bag or container ofinfusion fluid has been dispensed.

Box 1220 depicts that the pump associated with the norepinephrine orderfor Thomas Walker is sending an alert that there is air in the line ofthe pump. Further, it shows that this alert has been suspended by anurse who has gone to examine the pump. It includes the time ofsuspension of the alert by the nurse. Box 1225 also shows an alertdepicting that there is air in the line of the infusion pump associatedwith the milrinone order. To prevent the pharmacist or automatedpharmacy system from duplicating the replace/refill of the infusion.Automated pharmacy system may automatically update the dispense status.

Referring next to FIG. 13, an illustrative graphical user interface 1300is shown of a pharmacy view of infusion data received from infusionpumps. The interface 1300 includes various types of information relatingto multiple devices and channels for multiple patients in health carefacility. The types of information include the patient name oridentification number, the patient location 1315, the ingredient of theinfusion order 1320, the type of infusion 1325, the total volume to beinfused for the order 1330, the rate of infusion received from theinfusion pump 1335, the amount of fluid of the order that has beeninfused 1340, the amount of fluid remaining to be infused 1345, and thecalculated time remaining of the infusion 1350. Further, alerts 1310received from the infusion pump indicating that the volume is low orsome other type of alert are displayed. In addition, an interactive arearegarding the dispensing status 1355 of a replacement or refill for aninfusion order is provided. In addition, if a clinician or nurse hasplaced a request for a refill from a clinician device, this may also bedisplayed to the pharmacists to prevent the pharmacist or automatedpharmacy system from duplicating the replace/refill of the infusion.

A pharmacist or technician in the pharmacy may indicate the status ofthe replacement or refill of infusion fluid. These statuses include thatthe replacement infusion has been delivered 1375, that the delivery isin process 1380, the infusion has been dispensed but yet to begindelivery 1385, that the dispensing is in process 1390 or thereplacement/refill infusion is being prepared. In some instances, suchwith an automatic pharmacy dispensing system, the status of thereplacement or refill infusion can be updated automatically upondispensing. This indication allows for pharmacy users to know the statusof infusion orders to be filled by the pharmacy and adjust the workflowaccordingly. In other words, if an infusion replacement has beendispensed or delivered, there is no need for another technician tofulfill the order. However, if no status is indicated, then the pharmacyuser knows to begin dispensing.

That replacement/refill infusion status indication for a patient ordercan be communicated to a clinician, such as a nurse. This allows thenurse to see the status of the replacement/refill of the pharmacywithout having to directly contact the pharmacy to check status.

The pharmacy infusion orders for the patients are displayed in order oftime remaining for the existing infusion. For example, patients with thelowest calculated time remaining for their current infusion aredisplayed at the top of the graphical user interface 1300 and patientswith the most calculated time remaining for need of a replacementinfusion are displayed at the bottom. Icons indicating that the rates ofan infusion are increasing 1365 or decreasing 1370 are also displayed sothat a pharmacist can see if a particular infusion may need to bereplaced sooner than the calculated time remaining for the currentinfusion.

Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as wellas components not shown, are possible without departing from the scopeof the claims below. Embodiments of our technology have been describedwith the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternativeembodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after andbecause of reading it. Alternative means of implementing theaforementioned can be completed without departing from the scope of theclaims below. Certain features and subcombinations are of utility andmay be employed without reference to other features and subcombinationsand are contemplated within the scope of the claims.

1. Computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed, present a graphical user interface (GUI)comprising: a plurality of patient-specific-information display areas,wherein each patient-specific-display area of the plurality ofpatient-specific-information display areas presents a respective set ofinformation that is related to a respective patient and that includes:patient identifying information, a list of infused fluids beingadministered to the respective patient, a prescribed infusion rate ofeach infused fluid included in the list of infused fluids, an estimatedtime duration remaining before each infused fluid needs to be replaced;and hover-invoked display areas that are presented when a cursor hoversover specified areas of the GUI, wherein the plurality ofpatient-specific-information display areas and the hover-invoked displayareas are presented simultaneously on a clinician computing device thatis remote from any infusion pump.
 2. The media of claim 1, whereininfusion data is received as a continuous data feed from a plurality ofinfusion pumps without user intervention.
 3. The media of claim 1,wherein the hover-invoked display areas present a dispense statusindicating whether a subsequent fluid bag has been dispensed from apharmacy.
 4. The media of claim 1, wherein the hover-invoked displayareas present alert information describing an alert related to aninfusion order over which the cursor is hovered.
 5. The media of claim1, wherein the hover-invoked display areas present informationdescribing an action taken by a clinician responding to the alert. 6.The media of claim 5, wherein the information identifies the clinicianresponding to the alert.
 7. A method for automatically suggesting apharmacy workflow that prioritizes infusion-pump-related orders, themethod comprising: storing a plurality of orders in association with aplurality of identifiers, which identify a plurality of infusion pumps;receiving from each infusion pump of the plurality of infusion pumps arespective set of infusion-pump data, wherein each respective set ofinfusion-pump data includes: a total amount of fluid to be administered,a rate at which fluid is being administered, and an amount of fluid thathas been administered; based on the respective set of infusion-pumpdata, calculating for each infusion pump a respective amount ofremaining fluid to be administered and a respective amount of time toadminister the respective amount of remaining fluid; sorting theplurality of orders in order from highest priority to lowest prioritybased on the respective amount of time to administer the respectiveamount of remaining fluid; and displaying the order from highestpriority to lowest priority in a graphical user interface.
 8. The methodof claim 7 further comprising, receiving alerts from the plurality ofinfusion pumps, wherein alert indications are presented in the graphicaluser interface that represent the alerts.
 9. The method of claim 7further comprising, comparing the rate to a previously calculated rateto determine whether the rate is increasing or a decreasing, displayinga first icon indicating that the rate is increasing when the rate ishigher than the previously calculated rate, and displaying a second iconindicating that the rate is decreasing when the rate is lower than thepreviously calculated rate.
 10. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising, receiving a dispensing status indicating whether a fluid baghas been dispensed that includes a replacement infusion fluid andpresenting the dispensing status in the graphical user interface. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the dispensing status is communicated toa clinician device.
 12. Computer-readable media storing computerexecutable instructions that, when executed, perform a method forautomatically suggesting a pharmacy workflow that prioritizesinfusion-pump-related orders, the method comprising: storing a pluralityof orders in association with a plurality of identifiers, which identifya plurality of infusion pumps; receiving from each infusion pump of theplurality of infusion pumps a respective set of infusion-pump data,wherein each respective set of infusion-pump data includes: a totalamount of fluid to be administered, a rate at which fluid is beingadministered, and an amount of fluid that has been administered; basedon the respective set of infusion-pump data, calculating for eachinfusion pump a respective amount of remaining fluid to be administeredand a respective amount of time to administer the respective amount ofremaining fluid; sorting the plurality of orders in order from highestpriority to lowest priority based on the respective amount of time toadminister the respective amount of remaining fluid; and displaying theorder from highest priority to lowest priority in a graphical userinterface.
 13. The media of claim 12, the method further comprising,receiving alerts from the plurality of infusion pumps, wherein alertindications are presented in the graphical user interface that representthe alerts.
 14. The media of claim 12, the method further comprising,comparing the rate to a previously calculated rate to determine whetherthe rate is increasing or a decreasing, displaying a first iconindicating that the rate is increasing when the rate is higher than thepreviously calculated rate, and displaying a second icon indicating thatthe rate is decreasing when the rate is lower than the previouslycalculated rate.
 15. The media of claim 12, the method furthercomprising, receiving a dispensing status indicating whether a fluid baghas been dispensed that includes a replacement infusion fluid andpresenting the dispensing status in the graphical user interface. 16.The media of claim 14, wherein the dispensing status is communicated toa clinician device.